The Political Communication track is part of the Master's in Communication Science and addresses issues at the core of our democracies. It provides an understanding of the role and significance of media, journalism and information in shaping public opinion.

Why study Political Communication?

In this Master’s, you will study how interactions between (non-)governmental actors, politicians, journalists, and citizens take shape, and what features and effects they have. By using the latest scientific insights, you will learn how (social) media influences political engagement and how citizens’ use of media is changing. You will discuss who tries to influence the news, how powerful the media actually are, and how this differs in different countries.

Many issues are discussed in this track, always in line with recent trends and events, and preferably using an open, international and comparative perspective. Such topics include the emergence of weblogs and citizen journalism, increasing globalisation, agenda-setting and the framing of socially relevant issues by media, politicians, spin doctors and other stakeholders.

Political Communication at the University of Amsterdam

Amsterdam is a fascinating, media-saturated, multicultural environment. Studying in a major European center for media research and development provides you with a network of (international) contacts that helps you find work after graduation, both in the Netherlands and elsewhere. Many of the programme’s lecturers are researchers at the Amsterdam School of Communication Research (ASCOR) at the UvA's Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences. Furthermore, ASCoR has over 50 permanent senior researchers and its international English-taught PhD programme has more than 30 PhD students.

The presence of many excellent researchers in their field of political communication and journalism leads to the inclusion of state-of-the-art research (often even still before publication) on current trends and a wide variety of topics in classes. Moreover, the track actively involves students to participate in all kinds of academic activities, workshops and other events with a connection to communication practice. Each year several renowned international scholars with special expertise in their field of research visit Amsterdam, and students often have the opportunity to meet and interact with them. Symposia, field trips and debates are also organised. Many of these activities, including a blog in which students have their say, are announced and reported on the website of the Amsterdam-based Center for Politics and Communication.

You will graduate from an internationally consistently high ranked university. The QS World University Rankings by Subject 2019 lists Communication Science at the University of Amsterdam as the best (no.1) ranked programme worldwide.

Degree certificate

Political Communication is a track of the accredited degree programme Communication Science. After successful completion of this programme, you will receive a legally accredited Master’s degree in Communication Science and the title Master of Science (MSc).

Application and admission

If you did not obtain a Bachelor's degree in Communication Science at the University of Amsterdam, you are required to apply for admission to the Master's programme. The sub-site on application and admission will walk you through the steps necessary to apply.

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